Louis Arnot's return in One Piece may mean more than fans think
Louis Arnot became the talk of the town given his feature in One Piece chapter 1132 about how no one should linger on Elbaph Island for too long. However, there might be more to his journey across the Grand Line than what meets the eye, and all of this was indicated by the series' author in an SBS section.
In this section, the author explained that the explorer's journey, as explained in Brag Men, mirrored the protagonist's. Given the context of this book, it might be something Louis Arnot wrote about his journey across the Grand Line with his crew, similar to what the Straw Hat Pirates are currently doing. Moreover, Louis mentioning Little Garden might be why he mirrors Luffy's journey.
Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series and has the author's opinion.
One Piece: Exploring Brag Men and why it mirrors Luffy's adventures
One Piece chapter 1132 ended with a message from Louis Arnot, a mysterious traveler of the Grand Line, stating that no one should linger on Elbaph Island for too long. While this message had enough lore on its own, the fans were more interested in the explorer who had been an active part of the series since the Little Garden arc.
After landing in Little Garden, the Straw Hat Pirates searched the island. On the other hand, Nami remembered that she heard the name of this island before and started searching for the book where she read it. Fortunately, she found the book, which was Louis Arnot's Brag Men. She learned that the island had giants that the Straw Hat Pirates witnessed when they met Dory and Brogy.
So, what could be the significance of this mysterious explorer in the lore of One Piece? Funnily enough, the author has already summarized this for the fans through an SBS question. In the SBS section of volume 42, Eiichiro Oda was asked whether the book witnessed during the Ohara Incident was the same as Nami's book that she opened in the Little Garden arc.
The author said that they were the same and the book had the adventures of an explorer around the Grand Line, due to which it was read by people worldwide. However, an interesting detail the author stated was that Brag Men mirrored the adventures of Monkey D Luffy and immediately ended the SBS section.
The literal meaning of "Brag Men" is "people who boast about something." So, Louis Arnot might be the part of a crew who explored the world when the mysteries of the Grand Line were unveiled, due to which they entitled themselves as Brag Men. Louis' journey mirroring Luffy's might already be before the fans as both first visited Little Garden and later visited Elbaph Island (as confirmed in chapter 1132).
So, the mysterious explorer might be similar to Roger by default given how his journey was similar to Luffy's. However, there must be some deeper meaning to this too as Roger and Luffy are connected to the title of the Pirate King and the Grand Treasure. So, the crew of the Brag Men might have had some important characters.
Analysis and final thoughts
The theory expands a single SBS question so it has infinite possibilities. However, the possibility mentioned above might have similar chances of success. Moreover, Louis Arnot's crew might feature the other mysterious personalities that were overlooked.
Examples include Willie Gallon (the scientist who stated that "everything that can be imagined can become reality," which wasn't featured in the anime) and Jew Wall (who wrote a journal on Mock Town and titled it "the town of mockery"). So, there are infinite possibilities to this and each of them might look valid until there is official confirmation from the canon source material.
Related Links
- Who is Louis Arnot in One Piece? Explored
- One Piece's Elbaph Arc may reveal Nami as a Celestial Dragon and more
- Chopper, not Usopp, may be the star Straw Hat of One Piece's Elbaph arc
- One Piece's Elbaph Arc may serve as a second time-skip